Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Paralympic Room, Buckinghamshire Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF. View directions

Contact: Liz Wheaton 

Media

Webcast: View the webcast

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors S Adoh, T Birchley, C Poll, S Morgan, G Sandy, A Turner and P Gomm.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 129 KB

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30th June 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 30th June 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

4.

Public Questions

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee. The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

 

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/getinvolved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no public questions submitted for this meeting.

5.

Chairman's update

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked the Members on the Primary Care Network inquiry group for their contributions. She summarised the findings from the report as follows:

 

·       The PCNs were developing at different rates and there were different working practices across the PCNs which were highlighted throughout the report.

·       The report makes 17 recommendations, 15 of which were aimed at the newly formed Integrated Care Board.

·       A key conclusion reached in the report was the key role that the network manager plays in overseeing and delivering the ambitions around developing a successful PCN.

·       A comment was made around the lack of sustainable funding for permanent roles which presented an additional challenge for PCNs.

 

Committee Members agreed the report subject to those Members who were not in attendance having a week to review it and feedback to the Chairman.  The report would then be discussed at Cabinet in November and with the key health partner responsible for delivering the recommendations.

 

6.

System Winter Plan pdf icon PDF 109 KB

This item provides Committee Members with an opportunity to review the Winter Plan for the health and social care system.  Representatives from across the system will present the Plan and Committee Members will have an opportunity to ask questions.

 

Attendees:

Ms Caroline Capell, Director of Urgent and Emergency Care, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Cllr Zahir Mohammed, Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health

Ms Jenny McAteer, Director of Quality, Performance and Standards, Adult Social Care

Mr Raghuv Bhasin, Chief Operating Officer, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Dr Rebecca Mallard-Smith, Medical Director – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LMCs

Mr Gary Elton, Buckinghamshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee

 

Papers:

Cover report

Winter Plan

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the following presenters to the meeting Dr George Gavriel, Chair of Buckinghamshire General Practice Leadership Group for the ICS, Caroline Capell, Director of Urgent & Emergency Care, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT); Raghuv Bhasin, Chief Operating Officer, BHT; Jenny McAteer, Director of Quality, Performance and Standards, Adult Social Care; Dr Richard Wood, CEO, Berkshire West, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire LMC; Debbie Wiggins, Buckinghamshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee and Cllr Zahir Mohammed, Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health. 

 

Philippa Baker, newly appointed Place Director for Buckinghamshire, attended the meeting as an observer as she has not yet started in her role.

 

During their presentation, the following key points were made:

·       The System Winter plan covered early stages of planning through to implementation. The focus laid around providing resilience for social care, effective discharge practices, outbreak management and vaccination provision.

·       Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) had taken a similar approach to winter planning as last year, with each of their providers contributing to delivering and supporting winter pressures.

·       The pressures on mental health services had been increasing, particularly in light of the COVID pandemic. A number of patients had been in hospital due to poor mental health, and the teams were working closely with Oxford Health to get them into more appropriate settings.

·       Pressures on primary care resulted in increased pressures on hospitals. BHT had been working with SCAS to direct patients through the 111 service. A central clinical assessment service was also in development. Furthermore, work had been undertaken with local pharmacies to strengthen support, particularly around infection control.  Dr Wood and Dr Gavriel pointed out that those representing General Practice care providers had not yet been involved in winter resilience planning in General Practice.

 

During the discussion, Members raised the following questions:

 

·        In response to a Member question, it was noted that NHS England had made an assurance framework for all local ICBs, which contained actions around key focus areas. The System Winter plan had been subjected to a peer review by Surrey Heartlands. It was agreed to circulate the peer review report to Members.

Action: Caroline Capell

 

·        Actions outlined in the plan were tracked by the Buckinghamshire Urgent Emergency Care Board to ensure delivery.

·        Regular and ongoing communication with all key partners and service providers was key to successful delivery.

·        In response to a Member question, Caroline Capell reassured the Committee that work streams across all providers had intensive project plans dealing with each of the actions outlined in the plan. Fortnightly meetings were held with BHT’s improvement board looking at hospital actions and weekly meetings were held with the ICB.

·        As with previous years, there was a lot of uncertainty around winter planning, however, partners were ensuring that resources were in place to meet the additional demands, particularly in terms of staffing. A fundamental focus also laid in mitigating ambulance handover delays to ensure individuals requiring rapid care were treated promptly. It was agreed that more detailed information acquired in the upcoming meetings would be shared  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Healthwatch Bucks update pdf icon PDF 116 KB

The Committee will receive an update on recent key projects for Healthwatch Bucks.  The Chief Executive of Healthwatch Bucks will present the annual report.

 

Presenter:

Ms Z McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks

 

Papers:

Update attached

Annual report presentation

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Ms Z McIntosh, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Bucks updated the Committee on the latest activities and made the following main points:

 

·       Healthwatch Bucks had been working on two projects relating to social prescribing, one of which focused on residents’ awareness of the service. It was found that awareness was low, but the feedback around the benefits of the service were positive. The report and recommendations, which were centred around raising awareness, had been forwarded to James Kent, Accountable Officer for the Integrated Care Board. This also linked with the communication and engagement plan and recruitment of additional roles identified through the HASC’s inquiry into development of Primary Care Networks.  The Committee asked to be notified of the response from the ICB.

 

Action: Zoe McIntosh

 

Healthwatch Bucks launched its annual report in July and hard copies were circulated to Members.

 

Highlights from the report included:

 

·       Eighteen reports had been issued and recommendations forwarded to service providers and commissioners. These included enter and view visits to Community Opportunity providers, remote blood pressure monitoring, remote mental health support during Covid and cancer support.

·       Healthwatch Bucks key priorities were around health equalities, primary care and social care with a focus on dementia. A project around early onset dementia was also planned. Members welcomed the focus on dementia support, which was also included in the Committee’s work programme.

 

The Chairman thanked Ms McIntosh for her update.

 

8.

Development of Primary Care Networks Inquiry pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Committee Members agreed to undertake an inquiry into the development of Primary Care Networks in Buckinghamshire.

 

Members of the Inquiry Group will present the draft inquiry report.

 

Presenters:

Cllr Jane MacBean, Chairman of the Inquiry Group

Cllr Phil Gomm

Cllr Carol Heap

Cllr Howard Mordue

Cllr Alan Turner

Cllr Julia Wassell

 

Paper:

Draft inquiry report

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman thanked the Members on the Primary Care Network inquiry group for their contributions.  She summarised the findings from the report as follows:

 

·       The discrepancies in development and working practices between different PCNs were highlighted through the report. It included 17 recommendations, 15 of which were for the ICB’s attention.

·       A key conclusion reached in the report was the key role of the network manager to oversee and deliver the ambitions around developing a successful PCN.

·       The uncertainty around the future funding for the additional roles was acknowledged as an additional challenge for PCNs.

 

Committee Members agreed the report subject to those Members who were not in attendance having a week to review it and feedback to the Chairman.  The report would then be discussed at Cabinet in November and with the key health partner responsible for delivering the recommendations.

 

9.

Work programme pdf icon PDF 65 KB

For Committee Members to discuss the items for the forthcoming meetings.

 

Presenters:

All Committee Members

 

Papers:

Work Programme

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members discussed the work programme and agreed the following items for the November meeting:

 

·       Progress on the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s Clinical Strategy and Estates Strategy;

·       Update on Sustainable Intermediate Care;

·       Presentation of the Director for Public Health Annual Report.

 

The following items will be examined outside of meetings:

 

The scoping document for a forthcoming review around SEND being undertaken but the Children’s and Education Select Committee would be circulated to Members for information, once agreed.

Action: Principal Scrutiny Officer

 

A Member mentioned the Buckinghamshire Suicide Audit three-year review.  It was agreed to circulate this to Members once available.

Action: Principal Scrutiny Officer

 

 

10.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting is due to take place on Thursday 17th November 2022.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Thursday 17th November 2022 at 10am.